Japanese blog site, Egami, keeps an eye on what's happening at the patent office and they have just spotted an intriguing patent application by Nikon that appears to be centred around enabling a camera to take photos automatically when it is tossed in the air.

Camera-tossing is nothing new - Jamie Harrison, when he was technical editor at What Digital Camera magazine, wrote an article about camera-tossing at least 4-5 years ago. Basically, you set a short timer delay, release the timer and throw the camera (carefully!) up in the air just before the shutter fires. Hopefully a) you catch the camera as it falls, safely, and b) the camera takes an interesting picture! You can also simply leave the camera in video mode for some dramatic motion picture action.

Cameras are now often fitted with motion and orientation sensors that work with in-camera digital levels and image stabilisation systems. Nikon would seem to be aiming to use these sensors to trigger the camera's shutter at key positions in its trajectory when tossed in the air.

This all sounds rather fun, but will it ever be implemented? I'm sure someone can do the statistical calculations, but just how often would the camera end up on the floor rather than back in the hands of its relieved owner? And how much would you think Nikon would have to factor in the cost of repairing and repairing cameras fitted with 'toss-photo' mode? And what would you call photographers using this feature...? *LOL

You can read more on Egami, via Google Translate, here:

[url]http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ja&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fegami.blog.so-net.ne.jp%2F2012-10-15[/url]